When did each of the series "peak"?

[Alidar Jarok]

Praetorian, I pretty much agree, although I'll say TNG peaked at Redemption, not BOBW (so many great episodes after that point, it makes it hard to pick the first point).

I'll go with Trouble with Tribbles to mirror Too Much Fun so I can be lazy.

Not that either was completely downhill afterwards, it just wasn't the peak.

 

[apenpaap]

TOS kept pretty much the same qualtiy all over.
I would say TNG has a very broad peak, from "The Survivors" all the way to "Timescape". After that came "Descent", which was a horrible start for the seventh season.
DS9 slowly built up from season 1 onwards, and was the best in season 5 and 6. Season 7 was too much fantasy, with releasing demons by burning books and stuff.
VOY's peak was it's first season. After that, it lowered in quality each season, had a short live-up in season 4, and then went downhill again. (Still, even the seventh seaso n was quite enjoyable)
ENT's peak was the fourth season.

 

[Jaespol]

TOS kept pretty much the same qualtiy all over.
I would say TNG has a very broad peak, from "The Survivors" all the way to "Timescape". After that came "Descent", which was a horrible start for the seventh season.

I agree - TNG had a very long run of excellent episodes (but DS9 had an even longer one), and "The Descent" was an awful two parter.

 

[Too Much Fun]

TOS kept pretty much the same qualtiy all over.

What? Have you not seen season 3? There are clearly episodes in that season that are much much worse than anything in the previous two seasons. And the good season 3 episodes (the best of which in my opinion are "The Tholian Web" and "Day of the Dove") are nowhere near the quality of the best of seasons 1 or 2.

 

[SFRabid]

TOS - Season 2. A minor shift in the bridge crew, and before that awful season 3.

TNG - Season 4. Also has the best lineup for the crew.

DS9 - Season 4. Again, I liked the cast of this season and it was not so focused on one character saving the universe.

VOY - Season 1. I like the crew of later seasons but not the story lines.

ENT - Season 4. My favorite season of Trek.

Is ENT the only series that did not have a shakeup of cast? I realize the change in TOS was minor but it was still important.

 

[apenpaap]

Yes, ENT was the only show with no changes in cast. Though that would've changed if it had gotten a fifth season, as Shran would've been added as a main character.

 

[B.C.]

Since I'm most familiar with TNG, I'll toss in another vote for season 4. Just awesome!

 

[Anji]

For TOS I'd say the peak was "Let this Be Your Last Battlefield," a little known episode that I think embodied all that Star Trek stood for.

For TNG, I've gotta agree with the rest of your- "Best of Both Worlds" although I would also like to cast a vote for the episode with Hugh the Borg, because of the way it dealt with the origins of prejudice, something Star Trek has always fought against.

As for DS9, VOY and ENT, sorry guys, they weren't worth the film they were shot on.

 

[Jaespol]

As for DS9, VOY and ENT, sorry guys, they weren't worth the film they were shot on.

Yeah how dare we enjoy entertainment.

 

[SFRabid]

As for DS9, VOY and ENT, sorry guys, they weren't worth the film they were shot on.

Many of us feel the same way about the hater posts that are not worth the space they take on a free BBS.

 

[byron lomax]

TOS: from about the halfway point of season one until the halfway point of seasson two. Most of the series' best episodes take place in this period.

TNG: season three, when the show hit its stride and for the most part stayed there, at least until season seven. I'd call season five the best.

DS9: from around the final third of season two, until the end of season five. The last two seasons felt too slow and repetative for me.

Voyager: seasons four and five. Pretty consistantly entertaining, though this never came close to being my favourite Trek series.

Enterprise: maybe season four, although I never really felt the show "peaked", as the quality went up and down all the time.

 

[Fish1941]

[
VOY: Scorpion. It was a necessary episode that made up for the wreck that was season three and was the first time since the pilot that I had hopes for VOY.

Agreed Scorpion was the best of Voyager..[/QUOTE]


I don't. I've seen better episodes in later years.

 

[Jaespol]

I agree, Scorpion was not the best.

 

[Gary7]

I also agree that "peak" is hard to define... was it the average number of good episodes per season? I'd like to believe that definition, because even towards the latter seasons, each series had a few good ones in there.

It's got me thinking... might be fun to track down some previous threads on the "ones to avoid" episodes from each of the series.

 

[Too Much Fun]

Yes, ENT was the only show with no changes in cast. Though that would've changed if it had gotten a fifth season, as Shran would've been added as a main character.

I'm not saying this based on experience watching the character (have barely seen any Enterprise), but I think this is one of the most tragic things about Enterprise's cancellation. After all his years of great work as a guest star on Star Trek, Jeffrey Combs was finally going to become a regular (which, as he stated in interviews, was something he was always hoping would happen even though he enjoyed his guest spots) and he'll never get the chance now.

 

[Vicki]

Re: When did each of the series "Jumped the Shark"?

The Naked Now isn't totally hopeless. It's silly but fun.

It's worth watching just for Data and Tasha itneverhappened Yar because ~that~ gave The Measure of a Man it's biggest punch.

 

[Tachyon]

TNG: I think it finally found its way on season 4 and was pretty good till the end
DS9: Somewhere in the mid-season 6
VOY: In the end of season 6 (it was obvious that during the last season everyone involved were, unfortunately, somewhat tired of it.)

 

[Starbreaker]

Enterprise - Xindi arc
TOS - pretty decent all the way through
DS9 - season 6
TNG - not really sure
VOY - season 6

 

[Hober Mallow]

If we're talking about when the series' ratings peaked, with DS9 it was "Emissary," with VOY it was "Caretaker," and with ENT it was "Broken Bow."

 

[Londoner]

For DS9 I'd argue that it was the seven episodes between Call to Arms and Sacrifice of Angels. It had other single episodes that were better, but I don't think it was consistently as good as it was during that arc.